Former Duke All-American Beth Bauer chuckled when asked what people are saying about her.

Eleven months after turning pro, Bauer is the leading money winner on the SBC Futures Golf Tour and appears certain to advance to the 2002 LPGA Tour.

"I guess the biggest compliments I get is that I play boring golf," Bauer said. "Down the middle, hit to the green and one or two putts."

Bauer, the 1999 ACC player of the year, was noted for her exceptional consistency during her two college seasons. Now she plays for pay and her consistency is paying off.

She enters today's opening round of the Lincoln Futures Golf Classic in Avon, Conn., as the tour's leading money winner, a record-setting $59,732. In her last 11 tournaments, she has finished in the top five nine times, including three victories.

The 21-year-old Bauer has the No. 1 stroke average (71.225 strokes for 40 rounds) on the Futures Tour, which is the primary developmental tour for the LPGA.

Only once in her first 14 pro events, which typically start with 144 golfers, has Bauer finished worse than 11th place.

"That is all I want to do: to give myself a chance to win on Sunday," said Bauer, who shared second place last weekend during a Futures Tournament in Manalapan, N. J.

"It's been a great year so far. I have played very solid, very consistent. I focus every day on getting better. We play five or six days a week and I practice a couple of hours on top of that."

Bauer came to Duke after winning three state high school championships in Florida and 17 American Junior Golf Association Tournaments. When the two-time AJGA player of the year joined Coach Dan Brooks' program, she helped the 1999 Blue Devils win the NCAA team title and twice earned first-team All-American honors.

After two years in college, Bauer decided she was ready for the next level.

"I didn't know what to expect ," she said. "I have had success at every level I have played. I thought that if I practiced a lot and played a lot I could stay in the top three and that was my main goal.

"I have been comfortable . It is the reason I left school. It is something I strived for. I think it was somehow inevitable."

The top three players among more than 150 on the 2001 Futures Tour earn exempt status for next year's LPGA Tour. Bauer currently leads the money list by more than $18,000 with four tournaments remaining.

She has won tournaments in California, Colorado and Wisconsin. Each time she grabbed a top prize of $8,400.

"I am pretty confident not sending in my application for qualifying school," said Bauer, who surpassed the Futures single-season money record of $52,828 set in 1987.

The constant travel is "tiresome," she said, but her mother, Chris, is with her and walks her 18 holes every round.

"My mom does all the arrangements," said Bauer, who stays in motels and estimates her weekly expenses, including entry fees, at $1,000.

She has three endorsement contracts, which cover her expenses. Cleveland Golf pays her to use its clubs, Tommy Hilfiger provides her clothes and Nike gives her balls and shoes.

"Next year, if I make the LPGA Tour, my endorsements will jump a lot," she said.

Bauer, who has moved to Tampa, has dated another pro golfer "on and off for seven years." Her boyfriend is Ryuji Imada, a 24-year Japanese-American and former Georgia standout who currently ranks seventh on the Buy.com Tour money list with $131,413.

"We're lucky if we see each other once a month," Bauer said.

For the near future, she said the couple has no marriage plans.

"We have to get our careers set first," Bauer said.

Herald-Sun Release